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Job 22 (GN)

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¹ Is there anyone, even the wisest, who could ever be of use to God? ² (SEE 22:1) ³ Does your doing right benefit God, or does your being good help him at all? ⁴ It is not because you stand in awe of God that he reprimands you and brings you to trial. ⁵ No, it's because you have sinned so much; it's because of all the evil you do. ⁶ To make a brother repay you the money he owed, you took away his clothes and left him nothing to wear. ⁷ You refused water to those who were tired, and refused to feed those who were hungry. ⁸ You used your power and your position to take over the whole land. ⁹ You not only refused to help widows, but you also robbed and mistreated orphans. ¹⁰ So now there are pitfalls all around you, and suddenly you are full of fear. ¹¹ It has grown so dark that you cannot see, and a flood overwhelms you. ¹² Doesn't God live in the highest heavens and look down on the stars, even though they are high? ¹³ And yet you ask, "What does God know? He is hidden by clouds---how can he judge us?" ¹⁴ You think the thick clouds keep him from seeing, as he walks on the dome of the sky. ¹⁵ Are you determined to walk in the paths that evil people have always followed? ¹⁶ Even before their time had come, they were washed away by a flood. ¹⁷ These are the ones who rejected God and believed that he could do nothing to them. ¹⁸ And yet it was God who made them prosperous--- I can't understand the thoughts of the wicked. ¹⁹ Good people are glad and the innocent laugh when they see the wicked punished. ²⁰ All that the wicked own is destroyed, and fire burns up anything that is left. ²¹ Now, Job, make peace with God and stop treating him like an enemy; if you do, then he will bless you. ²² Accept the teaching he gives; keep his words in your heart. ²³ Yes, you must humbly return to God and put an end to all the evil that is done in your house. ²⁴ Throw away your gold; dump your finest gold in the dry stream bed. ²⁵ Let Almighty God be your gold, and let him be silver, piled high for you. ²⁶ Then you will always trust in God and find that he is the source of your joy. ²⁷ When you pray, he will answer you, and you will keep the vows you made. ²⁸ You will succeed in all you do, and light will shine on your path. ²⁹ God brings down the proud and saves the humble. ³⁰ He will rescue you if you are innocent, if what you do is right.